Cupcake party photos

For a friend's birthday, the theme was a cupcake contest. A wide variety of cupcakes showed up, from box mixes with packaged frosting to sweet and spicy to the winning display of artistically laid out cupcakes with props and dyed sugar/salt rims like margarita glasses (see below).

I didn't win the contest with the "Irish car bomb" cupcake, but I thought it was mighty delicious because it combined some of my favorite things: double chocolate with Guinness and whiskey. It received honorable mention from the birthday girl, our contest judge, for most chocolaty cupcake and best use of beer in baked goods.

For the recipe, see http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/car-bomb-cupcakes/
I didn't bother with making the extra Irish cream frosting because there was more than enough whiskey/chocolate filling to also frost the cupcakes.

And here's a shot of the chile/chocolate cupcakes -- which were my second-favorite and the ones that I most enjoyed taking home (mine were all gone at the end of the party) -- and the s'mores cupcakes, with broiled marshmallow topping.

The birthday girl was thrilled with the cupcake turnout for her birthday bash. I had a noticeable sugar rush after the initial tasting, a feeling that I put lower on the enjoyment scale than a rap on the knuckles with a ruler. But the company was fun and so was the contest.